Chapter One: The Strange Arrival Ahead of Time

"Duo Duo, when you meet the uncle and aunt later, tell them you don't want to go with them. Let them go with April instead, okay?"

On the outskirts of the city, in the orphanage.

Director Zhou crouched in front of Duo Duo, earnestly persuading her.

April stood beside the director, gazing triumphantly at Duo Duo.

Duo Duo still didn’t understand what was happening.

She lifted her soft little face and looked at Director Zhou.

Her big eyes blinked with innocence.

"Director Mom, uncle and aunt said they'd come today to take me home.

I like uncle and aunt, I want to be their child. Can you let them be my mom and dad?"

"No! I chose them first. They can only be my mom and dad!"

April’s look of pride became even more determined.

Today was the last day of the year; as soon as the New Year's bell tolled, the anomaly would descend.

Her orphanage would be chosen by the anomaly.

In her previous life, Duo Duo had been selected by this couple, left the orphanage, and escaped disaster.

But April was trapped in the eerie forest for over ten years!

Now that fate had granted her a second life, she was determined to snatch the couple from Duo Duo and let them take her away from this dangerous place!

"Director Mom, uncle and aunt chose me!"

Duo Duo’s little lips pouted, her chubby hand reached out pitifully, gently tugging at Director Zhou's sleeve.

Director Zhou pulled her sleeve away and stroked Duo Duo's adorable face.

"Duo Duo, be good. Uncle and aunt don’t know you have congenital color blindness. If they knew, they wouldn’t choose you."

Duo Duo’s hand froze in midair, the light in her eyes dimming bit by bit.

She hung her little head, eyes reddening, looking just like a pitiful little rabbit.

Noticing she’d touched Duo Duo’s sore spot, Director Zhou’s voice softened.

"Duo Duo, you’re only three. You’ll have plenty of chances in the future. But April is already five; her options are fewer. You’re younger than April, let her have this, okay?"

Duo Duo lowered her head, shaking it like a rattle drum.

If she said no, did that mean she didn’t have to let April have her way?

"Boom!"

A strange bell suddenly tolled, and outside, the sky rapidly darkened.

Director Zhou glanced outside, frowning in confusion.

"How did it suddenly turn dark in broad daylight?"

Hearing the bell, April’s face changed dramatically.

She looked out the window, quietly counting the tolls: "Two, three, four... twelve, thirteen!"

The bell tolled thirteen times in total—one more than at New Year.

With the final toll, a mist of blood shrouded the orphanage.

April saw clearly: the black night outside had turned blood red.

"How can this be? Why did the anomaly arrive early?"

April stared wide-eyed in shock, clutching her clothes tightly.

Duo Duo blinked in confusion.

To her, black and red made no difference.

She tilted her little head, curiously looking at April.

"April, why are you sweating so much?"

April raised her hand to wipe her forehead.

No sooner had she wiped it than new "sweat" appeared.

She looked up at the ceiling.

Streams of fresh blood dripped from above.

"Oh, it's raining!"

The bright red blood splattered onto Duo Duo’s tender face.

She looked up, her chubby finger pointing at the ceiling.

"Director Mom, the roof is leaking!"

"What... what is happening?"

Director Zhou had never seen anything like this before.

Though stunned, she immediately thought of the anomaly.

This was the third year the anomaly had descended—each New Year's, it chose its targets.

Those unlucky enough to be chosen would enter the eerie forest and clear stages.

Every stage cleared earned points.

Only by reaching ten thousand points could one return safely to the real world.

Fail, and you would be obliterated.

"We've been... we've been chosen by the anomaly!"

Director Zhou’s eyes widened, her face pale as ash.

No sooner had she spoken than their surroundings abruptly transformed into a forest.

The forest was shrouded in blood mist, within which a row of doors stood hidden.

Numbers 1 to 40 were written on the doors.

April saw the door marked 1 and her pupils contracted.

These doors were all too familiar—they belonged to the final stage she encountered in her previous life: Sweet Home.

But wasn’t Sweet Home supposed to appear more than a decade later? Why had it come early?

"Welcome, players, to the first stage: Sweet Home. Now, you may choose your family.

Spend seven days with your family to clear the stage. Points for clearing will be awarded according to difficulty.

There are four levels of difficulty: Easy (10 points), Normal (20 points), Hard (30 points), Hell (50 points).

Once you enter a door, you’ll learn its difficulty. Players, choose wisely."

As the eerie voice echoed overhead, each person found a black watch on their wrist.

The watch displayed basic information, heart rate, points, and the number of survivors in the current stage.

At the same time, giant screens appeared in the busiest places across the globe.

People's phones and computers seemed infected by a trojan virus, all entering a strange live broadcast room.

The broadcast room showed the blood-misted eerie forest.

Rooms were divided by city; before entering the next division, residents could only watch their own city’s broadcast.

[The anomaly arrived early! Let’s see who the unlucky ones are!]

[Why are all the chosen ones from Z City just children?]

[You don’t know, Z City’s chosen site is a suburban orphanage. Of course most people there are kids!]

[Great, a bunch of orphans, we’re doomed!]

The comments scrolled faster and faster.

Meanwhile, the hearts of Z City’s citizens sank.

The anomaly’s descent affected not only the unlucky ones chosen, but everyone in the city.

Those chosen represented their city.

The earlier a city is eliminated, the more unlucky people are chosen next time.

The ones who survive to the end will earn their city an exemption—the anomaly won’t descend on their city the following year.

In the eerie forest, Duo Duo tilted her head in confusion at the doors before her.

Where was this? Wasn’t she just at the orphanage?

Seeing the confusion in her eyes, April’s eyes gleamed as she quickly moved beside her.

"Duo Duo, didn’t you always want to find your real parents? Step through this door, and you’ll meet them!"

April raised her hand, smiling slyly as she pointed at door number 1.